Low air velocity fan



Nov. 18, 1958 N. E. SHIBLEY 2,860,829

I Low AIR VELOCITY FAN Filed July 5, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 I INVENTOR 4 4551 62/4 5 69/494 n ATTORNEYS Nov. 18, 1958 N. E. SHIBLEY 2,869,529

LOW AIR VELOCITY FAN Filed July 5, 1955 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ATTORNEY/5' Unite LOW Am VELOCITY 7 FAN,

Nassiif Elias Shibley, McKeesport, Pa.

Application July 5, 1955, Serial No. 519,849

6 Claims, (Cl. 230264) The present invention relates to improvements in power driven fans and more particularly to a low velocity air circulation fan adapted to create a gentle air movement in a room or other enclosure. I

It is well known to the art that present modern da asthma and'other respiratory diseases or bed-patients in a hospital or sick room, are particularly objectionable and undesirable. As a consequence, ,many persons are deprived in the hot weather of the comfort ofthe circu lationof air over and around the body to augment "evaporation of the body moisture and the incident cooling sensation resulting therefrom.

It is accordingly, a primary object of the present inven-' tion to provide a fan capable of creating a gentle flow; of air that may be directed at a person to create a cooling breeze and at the same time effect a gentle circulationbf air throughout the room to maintain the occupant at 'a reasonable degree of comfort without danger of chilling and causing a cold or other respiratory discomfort. 7

Still another object of the present invention residesi'n providing an inexpensive motor driven 'fan employing a flexible panel-like fan blade designed to create a' fanning' action similar to that of the well known hand fan while at the same time assuring a general but gentle circulation of the air in the room or enclosure where employed.'

Still another object of the present inventiori' resides in providing a fan of the character-heretofore mentioned with anovel drive mechanism adaptedto simulate the wrist action employed in the use of the-Well known hand fan whereby a flexible, panel-like air propelling. blade may be effectively employed to create a Igentlel'eooling movement of the air within a room-or enclosure. Still another object of the present invention is toprovide a fan of the character heretofore r ne'ntioned with a novel panel-like air propelling blade madelof rubber for other flexible material and havingia stiffening backing adapted to adhere to the rubber panel-like member in its movements and control the movements of .the panel-like member to effect an efficient movement of the air during operation of the fan.

Still further objects of the present inventionwill appearfrom the following description and appended claims when read in conjunction with the attached drawings wherein: Y

Figure 1 is a side elevational view of a preferred form of fan embodying the invention;

Figure 2 is an end viewtof Figure l as viewed from the right of Figure 1 with certain parts in section for-clarity of illustration;

States aten-t C "ice of the pitman rod to the crank arm of;the drive.mecha nism and the take-up adjustment for adjusting the length of the pitman rod; I t Figure 4.is a detailed sectional view illustrating'the suspension'mechanism for the panel-liketfanblade'adapt ing the blade for relative angular adjustment toco'ntrol the direction ofiair flow within limits; t Figure 5 is a fragmental sectional'view of the lower end of the suspension mechanism of 'Figure 4illustrating the manner in which the panel-like airrdeflecting 'blade is secured to the suspension mechanism; and l Figures 6 and 7 are respective sectional vie'ws taken on lines 66 and 77 of Figure l. i 1 T With continued reference to the drawings wherein like reference numerals are employed throughout to indicate the same parts, the fan of the present-invention -is generally designated by the numeral 10. Fan 10 is made' ufio'f a base member 11, a support column 12," a motor' h ou'sing 13, a horizontal'support arm 14 pivotal'lysupported at one end as indicated at- 15 to housing 13'and carrying at its opposite free end a gear mechanism 16 from which thepanel-like fan blade 17 is suspended through snspn Figure 3 is a detailed view illustratingthe connection I sion means 18 carried by arm 19'. The gear mechanism 16-is adapted to be driven from a motor'driven gear train 21 through a balance wheel 22*ca'rrying' a crankpin 23 suitably universally connected ashereinafterpointed out to pitman rod 24 which is. inturn connected to recip rocating drive arm 25 of gear mechanism llfif 25 is rigidlymounted on theface'of drive gear 26fof-gear mechanism 16 by means of radially space'dcap seiewsm as most clearly shown in Figure 6. l

Drive gear 26, as clearly appears from Figures-1 and- 6, is journalled through a spacer sleeve 30'for -rota't 'n on a shaft 28'supported at its opposite ends'bythe'spaced arms of a drive mechanism support bracket 29 secured to the free end of support member 14 1a any suitable manner. Support bracket 29 also supports-a shaft' 31 journalling driven gear 32 of gear mechanisin '16 through a similar spacer sleeve 30'forn' eshirigengagement wi'th driven gear 26. One side face-of gear' 3'2'is *suitably tapped in radial outward relation 'fromthe icenterbf shaft 31 as best shown in Figure *7 to receive .acap'serew 27 for securing arm 19 rigidly thereto. The inner'endof arm 19 is preferably apertured to receive sleeve "30 1mmby mounting arm 19'for swinging movement around shaft 31 as a unit with gear 32. To secure the desired wrist action conducive to proper air movement in a fan'ofthe' type herein disclosed the gear 26 must be slighfly'la 'ger than the gear 32. In practice it has been foundthat'a gear 26 of one and one-half inches'in diameter and a gear 32 of one and one-quarter inches diameter operate satisfactorily. It, however, will be appreciated that diff ferent gear ratios maybe employed solong as'the gear 26isthelarger. i

.A support bracket 34 secured to 1 one end Wall'of housing 13 is provided with an upwardlyopening notich' which receives support arm 14 to prevent downward rotational movement of arm 14 around its pivot 15'. The .lower end of arm 19 is suitably notched as indicated at 36 to-receive the upper end of an Ll-shaped suspension bracket 37 rigidly connected thereto by nut and bolt,- assembly .38.

The horizontally disposed leg of bracket 37 isthickened as. more clearly disclosed in Figure 4 and provided with: a vertical through aperture 39 for blade support shaft' 40'from which the panel-like blade'17 depends Shaft 40 at its upper end is providedwith aipairiof spaced annular grooves adapted to respectively receive snap rings 41 which cooperatevwith the upperface ofthe horizontal leg of bracket 37 to hold shaft 40-against downward movement. Inwardly from the innermost snap ring 41 shaft 40 is provided with a series of annularly spaced conical notches 42 adapted to be selectively aligned with cross passage 43 formed in the horizontal leg of bracket 37 and suitably tapped at 44 to: threadedly.

receiving the shank 45 of a knurl headed set'screw. 46:

adapted to be threaded into locking engagement in one. or another of the notches 42 to determinethe angular position of support-shaft 40 with respect to bracket37,.. A suitable coil spring 47 acting between the headof set screw 46 and the end face of the horizontal leg of bracket 37 is provided to frictionally lock set screw 46 in its adjusted position to prevent. inadvertent loosenin of ,the'set screw in operation of the fan. i i

The lower end of shaft 40 has an axially extendingnotch formed on one side thereof as indicated at 51 to receive the panel-like fan blade assembly 17 as clearly seen in Figure 5. Panel-like blade assembly 17 is preferably made up of a flexible, rubber, panel-like element ing notch 69 (Figure 1) formed in the upper end of plate 62. The outer end of shaft 68 carries a drive pinion 71 of either seven-sixteenths or seven-eighths inch diameter drivingly engaging a jack shaft gear 72 of two and five-eighth inches diameter rigidly secured to a jack shaft 73 journalled at its opposite ends in bearings 74 52 approximately eighteen inches in width and twentyfour inches in length, a celluloid or other more rigid yet flexible backing sheet 53 of substantially smaller dimension so as to leave about a four inch unbacked margin of the rubber sheet about its two vertical side edges and lower edge or spaced backing strips of similar material located about four inches in from the vertical side edges and clamp or gripper strips 54 and 55 about eighteen inches long and two inches in width adapted to receive the upperedges of element 52 and sheet 53 or the related ends of the backing strips therebetween. These strips 54 and 55 together with the upper edges of element 52 and sheet 53 are suitably apertured as indicated at 56 to' receive securing bolt and nut assemblies 58 for clampingly engaging the assembled members 52, 53, 54 and 55 tightly in place in notch 51. For best results it has been found that a two inchoverlap between the upper edges of the sheets 52 and 53 and strips 54 and 55 is preferable and that gripper strip 54 be of generally inverted L-shaped configuration in cross section with its vertically extend-.

ing or backing leg slightly longer than the width of strip 55. By constructing the panel-like fan blade in this manner, it has been found that the rubber panel and the backing sheet 53, preferably of Celluloid or the like, have a mutual attraction causing them to move together as a unit in operation of the fan. It has further been found that by utilizing this particular panel construction in combination with the wrist action gear mechanism 16 heretofore described that the rubber panel and its backing sheet or strips will fiex around the lower edges of the gripper strips 54 and 55 at the moment that the gear mechanism reverses itself at each end. of the stroke of the pitman to give a sort of a snap reversal action to the blade to better impart movement to the ambient air.

As a matter of fact, it has been found in actual practice that a fan blade structure of the type just described when associated with a gear mechanism like that indicated by numeral 16 herein has the' ability of pushing the air ahead of the blade first in one direction and then the other sufficiently vigorously to create a light breeze around objects disposed adjacent the path of movement of the panellike blade assembly 17 and at the same time initiate a general but gentle circulation of the air throughout the area of the room or enclosure in which the fan is operated. This fanning action has been found to be particularly efiective in cooling an individual in hot weather while at the same time avoiding the chilling sensation and respiratory congestion customarily noted when the air stream produced by conventional high speed electric fans is directed upon the body of a person seeking relief from the heat.

While base 11, column 12 and housing 13 together with the drive gear train 21 may take any suitable form, it has been found that these parts if produced in the following manner provide an effective and extremely-inexpensive assemblage. Referring first to housing 13 this invention contemplates a rigid base 61 having an upstanding main support panel 62 secured thereto by means of cap screws mounted respectively in bearing apertures formed in plate 62 and the front cover plate 75 which is rigidly secured to upstanding laterally spaced mounting ears 76 formed on base 61 by means of securing screws 77.

Shaft 73 also carries a drive pinion 78 which meshingly engages with a two and a half inch crank shaft gear 79 secured to crank shaft 81 journalled in bearing bushings 82 respectively carried by plate 62 and cover plate 75. As clearly seen in Figure 2, shaft 81 extends through cover plate 75 and carries on its outer end a combined bal ance wheel and crank arm member 83 for unitary rotation with shaft 81. As will be apparent from an inspection of Figure 2, crank arm 23 is carried by member 83 adjacent its outer periphery and is connected to pitman rod 24 by means of a universal connection 84 including a threaded stem 85 adjustably threadedly connected to a turnbuckle housing 86 carried by the adjacent end of pitman stem 24. This turnbuckle adapts the pitman rod for length adjustment in well known manner. A

suitable lock nut 87 fitted on shaft 85 is provided for locking the turnbuckle in adjusted position.

Housing 13 is completed by a pair of opposite end plates 88 provided along their opposite vertical edges with screw receiving cars 89 adapted to receive securing screws 77 freely received in suitable apertures provided in the front cover plate and a corresponding rear cover plate 91. As clearly seen in Figure 2, the upper ends of front plate 75 and rear plate 91 are provided wlth 1nwardly directed ears 92 suitably tapped to receive cap screws 93 for removably securing a motor cover 94 to the upper end of the housing 13.

Centered with respect to the bottom face of base 61 1s a centrally apertured and tapped mounting plate 95 for threadedly receiving the upper threaded end of a telescoping tubular support rod 96 slidably received in support column 97 for vertical adjustment to vary the height of fan housing 13 and its associated structure as desired. A suitable set screw 98 having a wing nut shaped head is provided for adjustably securing rod 96 in the desired telescoped relation to sleeve 97. The lower end of sleeve 97 is provided with a conventional pipe coupling 99 which threadedly engages the upper end of a pipe section 101 threaded into the center of base 11. The upper end of pipe section 101 as clearly seen in Figure l is suitably axially notched at right angles to provide upwardly opening axially extending slots 102 disposed in diametrically opposed relation one to the other for receiving the upper downturned ends 103 of diametrically opposed column braces 104. The lower ends 105 of braces 104 are respectively positioned in upwardly opening slots formed in the upper surface of base 11 adjacent its outer periphery to provide structural bracing for column 12.

The wiring for motor 67 is preferably enclosed in a cable 106 which may be lead from housing 13 at any desired point or if desired threaded through the support column 12 to base 11 through tubular rod 96 and a drilled opening formed in base 61 opposite the upper end of the rod 96.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is therefore to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are therefore intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed and desired to be secured by United States Letters Patent is:

1. A power driven fan for creating a low velocity cooling movement of air adapted for direct application to the body of a user comprising a support standard; a panellike fan blade; a generally horizontal support arm having one end mounted on said standard; a driven gear journalled at the other end of said arm and having a depending arm connected to an edge of said panel-like fan blade and supporting said fan blade adjacent the other end of said support arm for swinging movement around an axis extending transversely of said horizontal support arm; drive means including a crank and pitman, a drive gear journalled on said arm adjacent said driven gear and drivingly connected to said pitman and meshingly engaging and imparting limited oscillation to said driven gear and depending arm around said axis to swing said fan blade first in one direction and then the other through the air; and motor means operatively connected to said drive means for driving said drive means, said drive and driven gears cooperating to form a speed in creasing drive train between said crank and pitman and said depending arm and its panel-like fan blade to assure a movement of air by said fan blade.

2. The fan of claim 1 wherein said panel-like fan blade comprises a sheet of rubber-like material; a stiffening backing sheet of Celluloid-like material; a pair of clamp strips of rigid material of a width adapted to overlap a substantial area of said edge of said rubber-like and Celluloid-like sheets; and means clampingly engaging said rigid strips together with said rubber-like sheet and said Celluloid-like sheet therebetween.

3. A power driven fan for creating a low velocity cooling movement of air adapted for direct application to the body of a user comprising a support base; an upstanding support column secured at one end to said base and carrying at its other end a motor and drive gear train housing; a right angularly disposed support arm secured at one end to the exterior of said housing and carrying at its free end a pair of parallelly extending support arms; an electric motor supported in said housing and having an output gear thereon; a combined balance wheel and crank wheel journalled in said housing in spaced relation to said motor output gear; a gear train drivingly connecting said motor output gear and said combined balance wheel and crank wheel; a crank pin mounted in said combined balance wheel and crank wheel adjacent its periphery; a pitman rod pivotally connected at one end to said crank arm and adapted at its other end for connection to an actuator arm; a pair of intermeshing gears journalled for rotation in said spaced arms of said support arm and comprising a driven gear and a driving gear of larger diameter than said driven gear; an actuator arm rigidly fastened to said driving gear and extending radially therefrom; means pivotally connecting the free end of said actuator arm to said pitman rod; a depending arm rigidly connected at one end to said driven gear and extending radially thereof to support a fan blade therefrom; bracket means secured to the free end of said depending arm and having a right angularly disposed apertured leg; a fan blade support shaft mounted in said apertured leg; and a flexible panel-like fan blade mounted on said support shaft and adapted upon actuation of said motor means to swing to and fro and effect a circulation of air.

4. The fan of claim 3 wherein said support column comprises a pipe section mounted at one end in said base and having axially extending slots diametrically opposed and external threads at its other end adapted for threaded engagement with a pipe coupling; a plurality of strap-like column braces corresponding in number to said slots disposed with one end lying in each of said slots and the opposite end disposed in peripherally disposed recesses in said support base; a second pipe section secured to said coupling and projecting upwardly therefrom; and a telescoping support element slidably disposed in said second pipe section and rigidly fastened at its upper end to said gear train housing to adjustably mount said motor and gear housing with respect to said second pipe section; and a thumb screw threaded in said second pipe section and adapted to bear against said telescoping support member and secure it in adjusted relative axial position in said second pipe section.

5. The fan of claim 3 wherein said support arm has one end bent at right angles and disposed in an annular opening formed in said gear train housing structure adjacent one side face thereof; and wherein the other side face of said housing is provided with a bracket having an upwardly opening slot disposed to receive a portion of said support arm remote from said bent end so as to cooperate therewith and support said arm in generally horizontally disposed position.

6. The fan of claim 3 wherein said right angularly disposed leg of said fan support bracket is provided with a drilled and tapped opening intersecting said aperture and is provided with a set screw adapted to engage said fan support shaft and secure it in angularly adjusted relation to said bracket.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 134,543 Heidt Jan. 7, 1873 226,144 Wurzner Mar. 30, 1880 236,928 Braddock et al Jan. 25, 1881 264,064 Clinton Sept. 12, 1882 710,295 McNamara Sept. 30, 1902 1,252,508 Telfer et al Jan. 8, 1918 1,261,753 Anderson Apr. 9, 1918 2,019,906 James Nov. 5, 1935 

